Global Civil Society and Ethnic Social Movements in the Contemporary World

Abstract

Studies on ethnic movements have largely overlooked the global dimensions of ethnic social movements. Drawing on social movement theories and the world culture approach, I argue that linkage to global civil society gives rise to ethnic mobilization because it diffuses models of claim-making based on human rights ideas, while intergovernmental networks suppress ethnic mobilization as they enhance state power and authority. Tobit analyses on violent and nonviolent ethnic mobilizations show that, controlling for domestic factors, linkage to global civil society raises the potential for ethnic social movements, while intergovernmental networks do not have a strong impact on ethnic mobilization.